The Cohens move to Newport
by Cootisms
Summary: The return of the Kirsten to Newport, how Seth feels about it and how he fits in... Later he'll meet Marissa, have his first day at school and lots lots more!
1. The Move

Moving to Newport; Seth aged 5

After a long flight from Berkeley, the three Cohens were finally in their limo, courtesy of Caleb Nichol, on their way to the home that he had had built for them. They were going to spend a while there, whilst Kirsten looked after her dying mother Karen and helped her dad run his business, which her mother could no longer do.

Kirsten was exhausted from having been up at the crack of dawn, thanks to Seth's excitement, she'd had some last minute things to sort out before they left and preparing for the journey had been a nightmare. Added to that, she was worried about her mother and how her father was coping with the situation and so had barely slept for weeks.

When Seth asked if they were nearly there yet for what seemed like the millionth time that day, she let a curt "No!" escape her lips, which caused Seth's eyes to fill with tears.

He snuggled closer to Sandy, who was giving the patron saint of patience a run for his or her money.

"It's OK, Setheleh, Mommy's just tired, so she's grouchy, just like you are when you don't get enough sleep." Sandy declared comfortingly.

"Wow, look, Seth, can you see the ocean, my darling?" her husband continued, using a diversionary tactic to take Seth's mind off her curt remark.

Seth's gaze went to the window, from which he could see beautiful golden sands and a deep blue ocean that was mirror-like in its calmness.

Seth's face lit up in amazement and his excitement was heightened when Sandy told him they might be living by the sea.

"Wow, that's awesome, Daddy, can we go swimming then? And make sandcastles, look for shells and eat ice-cream, chocolate, of course?" gabbled Seth, totally enthralled with the idea of living near a place that offered such attractive pursuits.

"Of course we can, Setheleh, maybe not on our first day though, Ok?" Sandy replied, pleased to have at least one excuse he could use to be rid of Caleb for a day.

He seriously hoped that the novelty of living by the sea wouldn't wear off too quickly for Seth, as if they stayed for a while, he could still get away from his despised father-in-law with a genuine excuse.

Kirsten eventually dropped off to sleep, exhausted from the craziness of the past month, lulled into slumber by the soft rolling motion of the car.

Sandy miraculously managed to keep Seth entertained with games of I-Spy, stories, snacks and other activities, which reduced Seth's wondering of when they'd be there to about once every ten minutes rather than the every 5 seconds he'd been asking that question previously.

Kirsten was woken by Seth's over-excited screams of "Mommy, Mommy, wake up, we're here! We're living in a palace!"-he was pratically hysterical.

Caleb was there to meet them. He welcomed Kirsten with a quick hug and kiss, gave his grandson a quick cuddle and shook Sandy's hand perfunctorily, barely glancing at him.

The house was already furnished and it was filled with expensive and modern furniture, top of the range units and every appliance imaginable.

Seth continued to insist it was a palace and was dying with impatience to see the room Caleb had picked for him and then had decorated.

He was devastated to learn that his room would not be on the same floor as his parents', as the master bedroom was on the ground floor and there were no other bedrooms on that floor.

He pouted when this was announced and then spoke:

"But Daddy, what if I have a... might-nare... a bad dream and you and Mommy don't hear me 'cause you're too far away and I decide to go downstairs to see you guys and I fall, wouldn't that be a did... a disaster?" he ventured, with all the intense seriousness a five year-old can muster.

"Setheleh, don't worry about that, Mommy and I have very good hearing, we'll always come and comfort you if you have a nightmare. Now why don't we go upstairs and check out your room-I think you might have a present from Grampa up there" Sandy declared lovingly, taking Seth's hand to lead the way.

"Wow, a present for ME?" Sethh shouted joyously.

The two of them made their way up the beautiful staircase and found themselves near a room that bore a wooden placard declaring this was "Seth's Room".

Seth flung himself through the door and onto his bed, which had been made up with Spiderman covers. He began bouncing on it, encouraging Sandy to do the same. Sandy sat on the bed and grabbed Seth in mid-bounce, tickling him affectionately. Seth begged him to stop and they sat down sensibly. Sandy then reached for the gift wrapped in Superman paper that was on the bedside table, which was obviously meant for Seth.

The small boy tore at the wrapping like a Tasmanian Devil on a piece of meat, rapidly unveiling a plastic horse with a beige coat speckled with brown spots. He opened the plastic box and then asked Sandy to help him remove the horse from it. Once the horse was set free, he made him (yes, it was definitely a boy horse, he declared) gallop all over the bed covers, the rest of the room ("He's exploring it, Daddy, and I'm helping him!") and up and down his dad's back, just for fun.

Sandy picked him up, horse and all, saying he had to thank Caleb for his present and that he had to start getting dinner ready, otherwise Mommy might try and they both knew that Kirsten and cooking involved black lumps of indestinguishable substances and usually burnt pans or, if they weren't so lucky, a visit from the firemen!

Seth giggled at the memory and buried his head in his father's shoulder. In return, Sandy gave him an affectionate squeeze.


	2. Meeting the Coopers

The next day...

"Come on, Seth, hurry up, we've got to go and meet our neighbours... They have a little girl your age you can play with...

Yes, sweetie, you can bring your horse, but stop dawdling!" Kirsten exclaimed, her patience with Seth wearing thin. It had taken him twice as long to put on his socks and shoes than usual, and hadn't wanted to go without the toy horse Caleb had bought him the previous day.

Kirsten attacked his hair with a wet comb, in an attempt to make it lie flat, but her attempt failed miserably, as Seth's curls refused to be tamed.

Giving up on that front, she checked his face and clothes for dirt and spillages and was pleased to see there weren't any.

She then proceded to look for her keys.

"Your keys are here, honey," Sandy declared, brandishing a keychain bearing a diamante 'K' and house and car keys.

"My hero!2 Kirsten gushed, giving her husband a peck on the cheek.

"Are you ready, Setheleh?" Sandy asked his son.

"Yes, Daddy! May I have a piggyback there please?" Seth implored, holding out his arms to be picked up.

"Sure, hop on and hold on tight!" Sandy replied, crouching down to let Seth clamber on.

"Thank you Daddy! Mommy, hold my horse please!" Seth exclaimed, thrusting it into his mother's hands.

"Ok, boys, let's get moving, we're late already!" she declared.

The two men in her life replied with a chorus of "Yes Mommy!" which sent them off into hysterics at their amazing wit.

They wandered out and Kirsten locked the door behind them.

Sandy put Seth down when they'd arrived, and then Kirsten rang the bell.

It was opened by a woman with fiery red hair who looked seriously intimidating. Her husband held back a little, seeming to be the more passive partner in the relationship.

A little girl who looked about 5 years old clung to her father's leg, twisting one of her light brown pigtails with her finger.

"oh my goodness, it's Jimmy, isn't it? It's been ages! How are you?" Kirsten stated excitedly, rushing over to give the man inside the house a hug. After all, he was her ex-boyfriend and one time nearly-fiance, they went way back.

"Wow, Kirsten, look at you, you look amazing! This must be your son, and you must be Sandford, nice to meet you!" Jimmy said, all in one breath, only pausing to shake Sandy's hand warmly.

"Please, it's Sandy, no-one calls me Sandford!" declared the older Cohen man.

"And I'm Julie", the red-head interrupted. "I've heard so much about you, Kirsten, Jimmy always talks about you with so much affection, anyone would think he was still in love with you!" she intoned, trying to sound jokey and pleasant, but her words were tinged with bitchiness and she threw Jimmy a deadly look.

" Come in, anyway," Jimmy added, as he lead the way into the lounge, followed by his ex-girlfriend and her family.

"Don't be shy, Marissa honey, come say hello. Daddy's friend and her husband have a little boy you can play with, isn't that nice?" Julie coaxed, embarrased that Marissa was being so clingy. She was holding on to Jimmy's leg like a limpet and Seth was attached to Sandy's in a similar fashion, behaving so shly that both his parents were surprised.

Seth was the first to detach himself and speak.

"I'm Seth, Seth Ezekiel Cohen. It's a pleasure to meet you! Do you want to see my horse? Do you have any cool toys? Did you know you're very pretty?" he questioned all in one breath.

Kirsten raised her hand to her mouth to prevent a giggle coming out of her mouth at the sound of her little boy sounding so much like his father.

Marissa smiled slightly, let go of her father's leg and moved towards Seth cautiously.

She nervously reached out to touch the plastic horse that the young boy was clutching with both hands.

"Is your horsey a boy horsey or a girl horsey? Does he or she have a name yet?" she asked, stroking the horse's mane.

"It's a boy horse, but he doesn't have a name yet... Maybe you can help me think of one?" he replied, oozing with Cohen charm effortlessly.

"Marissa, take Seth upstairs and show him your room, you can play up there while Mommy and I have tea with Seth's Mommy and Daddy, OK? There'll be a snack for you in a little while, alright, kiddo?" Jimmy declared.

"Yes Daddy", Marissa replied, running upstairs with Seth close behind, the two of them giggling as they went.

"And play quietly, honey, Kaitlyn's napping, remember?" julie added, a little too late, she feared.

Twenty minutes later, the two children were clamouring for juice or milk and cookies.

Julie gave Seth a plastic cup of milk and a plate with two cookies, then repeated the operation with Marissa, except she gave her juice instead of milk.

Seth scrambled up onto the sofa to sit between his parents while Marissa sat on a cushion on the floor, near her dad's feet. Kirsten began 'feeding' bits of cookie to Captain Oats, as per Seth's request.

"Who made the cookies, Marissa?" Seth piped up. "Did your Mommy make them? My mommy's not allowed in the kitchen without... uh... Daddy? What's that word that means to watch over someone, the one that starts with 'P' or 'S'?" continued Seth, munching on his cookie as he did so.

"Do you mean supervision, Setheleh?" questioned Sandy. "And don't speak with your mouth full, please, it's bad manners," he added automatically. Seth swallowed his mouthful of cookie before replying.

"Yes, that's it exactly, Daddy! Thank you! Well, Marissa, my Mommy isn't allowed in the kitchen without, uh, the word my Daddy said, 'cause she gets it all wrong, but my Daddy's allowed, 'cause he's the bestest cooker!" Seth divulged in one breath, causing Kirsten to go bright red.

"Come on, Sir Talk-a-Lot, finish your milk and cookie and then say thank you for having me to Marissa and her Mommy and Daddy," Sandy declared, trying to avert the situation and prevent any more embarassing nuggets escape his son's mouth.

When Seth had finished, he gave Julie his cup and plate, thanked her and Jimmy and kissed Marissa on the cheek, which made her blush a deep red.

As the Cohens left, Seth grabbed his father's hand with his free hand, as the other was clutching on to his toy horse for dear life.

"Did you have a nice time with Marissa, my darling?" Sandy asked, squeezing his son's hand as they walked.

"Yes, it was fun, Daddy, Marissa's nice! But her room's too pink and purple, I like blue and green better! What's your favourite colour, Daddy?" Seth asked eagerly, dying to know this fact about his father.

"Hmmmm, let me think... I like blue, I think that's my favourite colour," Sandy replied.

" Wow, just like me, Daddy, we can be twins then!" Seth gabbled, thrilled at his father's response.

Sandy and Kirsten avoided eachother's gaze, as they knew they'd laugh if their eyes met, so Sandy changed the subject, hoping Seth wouldn't notice.

"So, Setheleh, has your horse got a name yet?" he enquired.

"No, not yet, Daddy! Marissa suggested Buttercup, but that's not a boy horrse's name, is it?" he replied, apparently sorely put out by Marissa's suggestion.

"What about Dogfood, don't you think that's a good name?" Sandy suggested, which earned him a look from Kirsten and a reprimand to stop being silly from his son.

"I know, sweetie, why don't you name him after a comic book character? like, uh, Captain Marvel?" Kirsten ventured, hoping Captain Marvel was in fact a comic book character and not one she'd seen on kids' TV.

"That's a good idea, Mommy, you're so smart! Do horses eat cookies?" he asked inquisitively.

"No, sweetie, they don't... They eat raw carrots, apples and sugar lumps, just like you do sometimes, and they also like grass, hay, barley and oats, things like that..." she replied.

Seth stayed silent for a minute, obviously deep in thought. He muttered to himself several times and looked serious. Naming a toy wasn't something you took lightly, after all.

"I've got it!" he suddenly shouted jubilantly. "He's called Captain Oats... I took the Captain from Captain Marvel and Oats are his favourite food, so that's his name! Do you think it's a good name, Mommy? what about you, Daddy?" he demanded of his parents.

"I think it's a very good name for a horse, sweetie," his mother replied. "I like it, my darling. Nice to meet you, Captain Oats," Sandy declared, reaching out to shake the toy's hoof.

Seth looked thrilled and made the toy nuzzle his dad's arm, commenting that that meant he was saying hello back and that he liked him.

He repeated the process with Kirsten, unfortunately just as she was opening the door, which made her jump, but she stroked the horse's mane and squeezed Seth's shoulder as they entered their new house.


	3. Bedtime Conversations

_ First of all, just some author comments: I find it difficult to write Kirsten, but I'll make her have a nice chat with Seth in this chapter, it was going to be Sandy, but never mind! I just always got the feeling that Sandy & Seth were more like best friends when Seth was little and Kirsten's more of the actual parent... Since she's kind of quiet and reserved, I find her more difficult to write, but with Seth and Sandy, I can run off at tangents and be silly! Great fun! Having done lots of babysitting and having been 'adopted' as big sister by lots of kids, I think I write children quite well, the way to express stuff they say that is so way out there for adults but makes perfect sense to them, the problems they have remembering some words and their tendancy to be totally honest in their opinions comes easily to me. And for Seth, I thought of the most talkative kid I've ever babysat for and increased it, added the bits and pieces The OC has revealed and... voila!_

_To whoever commented on Sandy calling Seth "my darling", I think it works,it wouldn't be in the fanfic if I didn't think it did, and it's also what the Nana calls Sandy sometimes, so it made sense to me that parents would use the same terms of endearment with their kids as the ones their parents used with them, if that makes sense. I don't like using kid or kiddo, buddy doesn't do it for me either, and sweetie & sweetheart are more Kirsten's words, so it's got to be my darling really! If I get more comments about it from different people, I'll change it, but will need suggestions as to what to change it to!_

Captain Oats had stayed on the table throughout dinner, with Seth intermittently whispering to him in between bites of steak, fries, salad and strawberries, much to the amusement of his parents. He'd shared with his parents that he was the only one who could talk to Captain Oats, as he knew how to speak Horsish and they didn't, but he'd translate for them if they wanted to ask the horse something.

"Come on Seth, it's bath time!" Kirsten announced cheerfully.

"Do I have to, Mommy?" he complained, looking like he'd just been given an ice cream that had been snatched away before he'd been able to have a bite and then had to watch someone else eat it.

"Yes, you do, Setheleh, because Mommy says so" Sandy replied, anticipating Seth's "But why?" that was his normal form of protest.

"Seth, go with Mommy, you've got til the count of three," Sandy warned.

"One," he began in a no nosense tone.

Seth scrambled from his seat, grabbing his toy horse from the table before running to his mother's side.

" Captain Oats wouldn't make such a fuss about having a bath, would he, Seth?" she questioned.

Seth pondered this fact for a second, then whispered something in the horse's ear and then turned the toy's nose to his ear. He looked like he was listening carefully and finally nodded.

"Captain Oats hates baths too, Mommy, but he'll stay with me and help me with mine, OK?" he declared.

"Sure, sweetie, that's fine. You can help put the bubbles in, if you want." she replied, reaching out to hold Seth's hand as they went upstairs together.

Once Seth had been soaped and rinsed all over, his hair had been washed and he'd played for a bit, under Kirsten's watchful motherly eye, he got out. His mother wrapped him up in a big Superman towel and carried him to his room to dry him off. She tickled him as she did so, then got him into his pyjamas, chased him round the room so she could 'capture' him and then blow dry his hair. He liked pretending he was in a tornado when she was using the hairdryer, so she picked him up and spun him round when she'd finished, pressing a kiss to his cheek and calling him her lovable tornado.

Seth brushed his teeth and attempted to brush Captain Oats' too, but Kirsten distracted him with the idea of a story before he covered the sink in toothpaste.

She carried him back into his room, taking in his smell and warmth that she would love to bottle and sell as indiluted essence of Small Child, a positively intoxicating scent for any mother, she ascertained.

Seth chose two stories and they cuddled up together on Seth's bed, with Seth clutching his horse across his chest. Seth commented that she had pretty hair, like the picture of the heroine in the story and asked if she was a princess-well, they lived in a palace, and the picture of the prince in the story looked a bit like Daddy, but with smaller eyebrows, so it would make sense if she was a princess and Daddy was a prince. She also had pretty clothes, which was further proof in his eyes.

She smiled at her little boy and the craziness of kids' logic and put the book down.

She asked Seth if he'd like to hear a real story, the one of Mommy and Daddy's meeting. Seth nodded enthusiastically, so she explained what college was like, in terms a five year old could grasp, then explained she'd met Sandy at a Halloween party that her room-mate had taken her to, that she'd met him there and that they'd fallen in love.

She asked him what he thought the ending to the story might be and he piped up immediately.

"They got married and lived happily ever after with their one little boy for ever and ever and ever" Seth exclaimed, practically jumping out of bed in his excitement.

"That's right, sweetheart, we did get married and had a wonderful little boy... A wonderful little boy who has to go to sleep now though." She replied, pulling the covers back so he could be tucked in. He put his arms out for a cuddle before he snuggled down, which she gave to him. She tucked him in gently, taking in his gaze as he peered up at her adoringly.

She kissed his cheek and offered her face up for Seth to kiss, which he did. He commented on the softness of her skin and that she smelt nice, and then thrust his plastic horse in her face, claiming that he needed a goodnight kiss too. She complied, smoothed Seth's hair and tucked him in tighter.

"Goodnight, sweetie, sleep tight and sweet dreams, I'll see you in the morning. Daddy will be up in a minute to give you your goodnight kiss too, OK." she declared, turning on the nightlight and going to turn off the main light.

She did so and was heading for the door when Seth called out to her, his tone urgent.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" she replied, rushing to Seth's bed in concern.

"Is Marissa's Daddy still in love with you, Mommy? I think he is." Seth stated firmly.

Kirsten sat on the floor next to her little boy's bed, took his hand and looked him in the eye.

Kirsten's mind raced into overdrive. She knew it had been stupid to tell him that she and Jimmy had been boyfriend & girlfriend "a long long time ago, before I met Daddy", but Seth's pestering and thirst for detail had worn her down over dinner. Sometimes persistence was not a virtue, and certainly not in 5 year old boys, she decided.

"I don't think he does anymore, sweetie, as he's married to Marissa's mommy now, and they have Marissa and Kaitlyn together, they're a happy family, just like you and me and Daddy." she finally replied, hoping that her answer would satisfy Seth.

" Now it really is bedtime, " she declared, kissing Seth's forehead as she stood up.

Seth nodded sleepily and snuggled down further into his bed.

Kirsten crept out of the room, convinced Seth had mumbled "I love you" to her in that moment before sleep. She smiled happily at that, left the door open a crack and then made her way downstairs.

She bumped into Sandy who was coming up to say goodnight to Seth. They paused on their respective steps, Kirsten said she'd told Seth about how they met. Sandy smiled at her mischieviously.

"Remind me again of our first kiss" he said cheekily, earning him a playful swat from his wife who then gave him a passionate kiss.

Sandy eventually pulled away, gesturing at the top of the stairs.

"He's fast asleep, honey, he was even before I left the room, it's a miracle!" she announced.

They shared a look of tenderness and compassion and they both crept the rest of the way to their destinations: Kirsten to the lounge and Sandy to his little boy's room.

He pushed the door open a little wider and leaned on the frame, watching his son sleep peacefully. He snuffled in his sleep, unable to even do that quietly.

Sandy made his way to Seth's bed and knelt by it, listening to his breathing and seeing the relaxed expression on his face.

He smoothed the mad curly hair that his son had inherited from him, kissed him on the temple and whispered goodnight to him, then adding that he loved him.

It was almost as if Seth had heard him, as his hand reached out and touched Sandy's cheek before it dropped to the bed.

Sandy left the room as quietly as he'd come in, knowing that if Seth woke up, they'd never hear the end of it: he'd ask for more juice, another story, a cuddle and then would finally get into his parents' bed in the early hours of the morning, so he seriously hoped that wouldn't happen.

He stood at the door again, so grateful for his beautiful wife and gorgeous child. He simply didn't understand how any parent could possibly abandon their children and wife the way his dad had done. He'd known from the age of seven, which was when his dad had left, that he'd never be like that when he was a daddy and a husband. He stayed a moment longer in his reverie before heading down to the lounge to spend some quality time with Kirsten, which would hopefully lead to their bedroom later.


	4. 1st day of school, Part 1

"But Daddeleh, I don't _want _to go!" whined Seth, pouting into his bowl of cereal that was getting soggier by the minute.

Sandy exhaled deeply, wishing Kirsten didn't have to be out of town quite so much, especially not today.

He turned from the coffee pot to his son's imploring gaze.

Noticing that the whining was more a product of fear of being separated from his parents for a whole 6 hours rather than just being difficult, he seated himself next to Seth and reassured him that Mommy thought his teacher was lovely, that he was sure Seth would make lots of friends and that he'd learn a lot too.

He then promised to be waiting at the school gate at "precisely three o' clock", to quote his son, which seemed to have comforted his little boy a little.

"If you've finished your breakfast, go upstairs and brush your teeth please," Sandy commanded.

"You wouldn't want to be late now, would you? Daddies who bring their Seths to school late get into Big Trouble!" he continued, lightening the mood and making Seth giggle with his tone of voice and humourous choice of words.

Seth's face lit up, then he nodded and ran upstairs, "just as fast as Superman", he claimed.

Sandy smiled, pleased that his words had restored his son's mood. He examined the contents of Seth's lunchbox, checking that the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, juice box, apple and packet of California raisins were all present and correct. Content that everything was there, he shut the box and sipped at his coffee. A smile crossed his face when he remember Seth's insistance that Kirsten position the label that bore his name somewhere that didn't obscure any part of the Spiderman figure that adorned the front of the lunchbox. A compromise had been reached as the label was positioned in the top right hand corner, covering one of the superhero's fingers.

Seth came running down the stairs and flung himself on his father's leg. Sandy smiled, smoothed Seth's hair and deposited a kiss on the top of his head.

Seth pulled away a little, and Sandy straightened the collar of his son's white polo shirt and pulled his navy Berkeley sweatshirt down. The phone rang suddenly and Sandy was pleased to see Kirsten's cell phone number come up on the caller display.

"Hi honey, everything OK?" he questioned as he picked up the phone.

Seth tugged at his jumper, demanding to know if it was his mother and if it was, could he speak to her.

Satisfied that she was coping with being with her father, he told her Seth wanted to speak to her.

He picked his son up and handed him the phone.

"Hi Mommy," he chirruped happily. "Yes, Daddy's fine, he's being good, I'm looking after him fine! I miss you, when are you coming home? " he babbled, obviously thrilled to be talking to her.

"OK, I'll see you tomorrow then! Do you want to speak to Daddy again?" he asked, waiting for a reply. "Yes, that's true, we are late-is Daddy in trouble with you? OK Mommy, bye! Don't forget my present!" he exclaimed finally before switching the phone off and giving to his dad to put back in its cradle.

"We'd better go then, hadn't we? Have you got everything?" Sandy enquired of his son, handing him his lunchbox as he grabbed his backback with a picture of Spiderman, who else, on it.

He put his mug in the sink, found his car keys and they were off!

They arrived at the school in good time, as the GPS lady had found them a shortcut. Seth threw his stuff out of the car door when Sandy had opened it for him and then Sandy picked him up and swung him around, pressing a kiss to his head before he placed him back on solid ground.

Seth collected his belongings and they made their way to the gate, where a lot of first-time parents and their offspring were. Sandy noted that the parents were mostly mothers, and to his distaste, he spotted Julie Cooper. It looked like she was telling Marissa off for something, probably for being upset on her first day of school, he surmised. There was something so despicable about that woman, he thought, she just seemed so pissed off all the time. Her nostrils flared and her red hair flew around her, making Sandy think if she were an animal, she'd be a dragon.

A sharp tug on his sleeve helped recall the mission at hand and he took Seth's hand to go and find his teacher.

There's was a sign in the playground that read "1st graders over here' in bright red writing. There was a young woman standing by it, bearing a nametag. She was short and curvy with honey blonde hair, pale skin, a pretty smile and dark olive green eyes that sparkled and shone as she met her class for the year and their parents.

Seth and Sandy got closer, so Sandy was able to read her nametag, which said she was Miss Jones.

She noticed them walk over and remembered seeing the picture Seth's mother had shown her when she'd met her at the school meeting for new parents. The man who was with him could only be his father, she decided, as they both had dark curly hair, an impish look in their eyes and were wearing the same sort of adorably crumpled look.

Sandy reached out to shake her hand as he approached with Seth.

"Hi, Sandy Cohen," he intoned amicably.

"And I'm Seth! seth Ezekiel Cohen, to be precise! I love reading, especially comics! My best comic is Spiderman, 'cause Spiderman can jump really high with his web stuff, and he helps people lots... But he has to live with his aunt and uncle, I don't think I'd like to live with my Auntie Sarah or my Uncle Samuel..." Seth declared in the same friendly tone his father had just used.

"Setheleh, shhhh," Sandy interrupted firmly but lovingly.

"You don't want miss Jones to find out all your secrets on your first day, do you?" he questioned Seth, who, after a moment's thought, nodded in agreement.

"Seth, why don't you go and find your peg in the classroom, you can leave your bag and lunchbox there... Summer, take Seth to the classroom please, show him where everything goes, will you." said Miss Jones, directing the first part at Seth and the second to a little girl who'd gone rushing past in a blur of dark hair. She stopped, looked at Miss Jones and agreed to do as she'd been asked.

This was followed by a huge "Ewwww!" and the voicing of her feelings that she had to take a BOY to the classroom. She raced off, leaving Seth to follow after her in approximately the direction she'd gone, after an encouraging pat from Sandy.

"Sorry about the constant stream of chatter Seth spouts," Sandy declared apologetically,"he gets it from me, you see, I'm a lawyer anfd he's an only child too, which means he'll talk to _anything_-he had a long conversation with a lamp post the other day... And he has a toy horse called Captain Oats, just so you don't worry when you hear about him, which I promise you you will. If you find his "off" button, let me know, it could be useful! Oh, and I've just proved my son's inherited my ability to talk too much, sorry!" he added sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, he seems like a great kid! Anyone who can talk and read well is a pleasure to have in my classroom, especially one who has a vivid imagination." Miss Jones replied, beaming at Sandy.

"Right, I'll hold you to that statement when I see you at the parent-teacher conference, if you've survived that long! Good luck for today!" Sandy declared, shaking hands with his son's teacher again.

He was suddenly jumped upon by a hurricane of dark hair and incomprehensible chatter.

He picked his son up, gave him a kiss and felt Seth's warm lips go to his cheek. He gave him a big squeeze, made him promise he'd be good, put him down and waved before heading off. Seth waved back, faltering for a half a second before going to say hello to a group of children nearby.

As Sandy was nearly at the gate, he saw Julie drag Marissa past, give her a kiss on the cheek that seemed more perfunctory than loving and then left as fast as she could, ignoring Marissa's cries for her.

The bell rang and Marissa scampered off to get in line with the rest of her class mates.

He spotted Seth, who seemed quite happy and relaxed-he seemed to be laughing at something someone had said.

His heart plumetted as he got to the gate, he didn't realise how hard Seth being at school would hit him. Well, it's _only **six **_hours he told himself as he headed to the car.


	5. 1st day of school, Part 2

Sandy parked the car opposite the grade school his son was attending.

He glanced at his watch, noting it was 10 to 3, so he had five minutes before he wanted to be at the gate, to be sure Seth would be able to see him as he came out of the building.

He knew Seth was a bright kid and that he'd probably be ahead of most of his classmates in English and Math. He and Kirsten had read to him from the day he was born and he'd been reading at the age of three and a half. His Math skills were great, as whenever he went to the store with his parents, they'd always counted the change with him from the note they'd handed to the cashier and played games with the food, like "If we buy 3 packets of bagels with 4 bagels in each, how many bagels will we have?", so he was pretty good at that. Sandy thought Seth was very good at Art too, a trait he'd obviously inherited from his mother. He was always drawing pictures, when he wasn't reading, watching TV or playing a "let's pretend" game with Captain Oats. Sport wouldn't be quite so good for Seth, Sandy surmised, as he wasn't particularly well-coordinated or skilled at throwing and catching a ball, but they were working on that, and Seth always tried his best and didn't mind if he didn't win. He hoped that any friends Seth had made had wanted to play in the sandbox or just talk quietly rather than playing a rough game that could involve Seth getting hurt.

Seth was a sensitive kid, not only to his own physical or emotional pain, but to others' too. He'd help people get up if they'd fallen over, was quick to offer comfort and affection to any kid who was missing their parents and would share his lunch with anyone who was still hungry after finishing theirs. He and Kirsten had done a good job raising him so far, he surmised.

Sandy turned off his "Greatest Hits from Musicals" CD, cutting Maria from West Side Story off in the middle of her declaration of how she felt pretty and witty after meeting Tony.

Sandy got out of the car, locked it and crossed the street to get to the school gate.

A few parents were there already, again mostly mothers or possibly au-pairs, as a lot of the Newpsie women worked, like Kirsten did.

He was looking forward to hearing all about Seth's day, but had to mentally prepare himself for the half an hour of non-stop chatter he'd have to endure.

A bell sounded out in the building and a ripple of excitement and noise surged through it.

A few seconds later, a sea of children aged 5 to 11 spilled into the playground, running, shouting, whooping, talking in whispers to divulge secrets and plans or wandering alone in their little dream worlds.

Seth was one of the last children to come out of his classroom. Sandy waved at him to make sure Seth had spotted him, and Seth waved back and smiled.

Sandy held his arms open, anticipating the force of Seth's body as he ran into his arms.

"Dadddddddeeeeeeeeeeee!" the small familiar figure screamed excitedly before running into his father's arms at such speed he nearly sent both of them flying.

Sandy picked him up, needing to hold his little boy close to him. He felt Seth's warm body squeeze closer to his and his warm lips on his cheek. Sandy kissed the top of his son's head sevreral times and gave him an extra squeeze before putting him down on solid ground.

He crouched down to Seth's level, removed his backpack and took it in his hand, and then smiled at Seth.

"I missed you, Setheleh. Did you have a good day?" he questioned.

"I missed you and Mommy too, can you guys come to school with me tomorrow? No-one asked me to play with them today and we're not allowed to stay inside and read at recess, only if it's a rainy day and no-one wanted to play in the sandbox with me and they didn't want to play pretend with me... And I have to sit with Marissa as her surname is Cooper, which is just after Cohen alphateb... alphabetically and Luke Ward, who sits at the back with Holly Williams because their surnames start with W got into a fight today and he's been sent home, so he's never coming back... Can I fight please Daddy, then I can stay at home with you and Mommy too?" Seth gabbled, telling his father everything that had happened during the day.

"I'm sorry, Setheleh, Mommies and Daddies can't come to school with their Seths, it's not allowed. And I think Luke will be back in school in a few days and that he was punished when he was at home, because fighting's not nice. You musn't fight, OK?" Sandy explained.

"Yes Daddy, I won't, I promise. And you and Mommy can't come to school because you already know everything, it would be too easy for you, wouldn't it? You'd be the best in the class and it wouldn't be fair!" Seth chattered, his father's explanations falling into place in his five year old mind.

Sandy managed to not burst out laughing at his son's reasoning and took his hand.

They crossed the road, Seth still talking about what he'd learnt in school. They'd drawn pictures of their families and written the names of each person underneath each family member or a few lines about them, depending on how advanced they were. Seth, of course, had wanted to write his whole life story and explain how his Daddy was like Superman because he was strong, clever and kind and that his Mommy was a princess because she was pretty and smart, but Miss Jones had said they'd do that another day. They'd done some math too, that had been very easy, according to Seth, "stuff like 3+2 and 4+1, Daddy" and they'd also pretended to be a tree in gym class.

Sandy got Seth seated in the back seat of the car and kissed him on the cheek impulsively as he did so.

Sandy got into the driver's seat, listening to Seth's account of lunch time, which he seemed to have spent on his own, following a comment from one of his peers that Spiderman wasn't cool. Seth seemed fairly unphased by the event though, so Sandy didn't give it a second thought.

They finally got home and Sandy said Seth could have Oreos and milk as a snack. Sandy got out the cookies and plates and mug for himself and a plastic cup for Seth while Seth attempted to get the glass bottle of milk out of the fridge. Sandy took it from him just seconds before it escaped his small hands.

Once the milk had been poured and returned to its correct place in the fridge, and Sandy had made himself a coffee, the two Cohen men went into the lounge and watched cartoons as they ate.

Seth finished the last of his milk and deposited a chocolatey kiss on his father's face. He was covered in cookie crumbs and chocolate, especially on his face and hands.

Sandy grabbed him and tickled him, while Seth begged for mercy.

" Cookie Monsters get tickled, that's the law!" Sandy declared teasingly, picking his son up as he did so. "Unless, of course, they agree to have their hands and faces washed," he added with mock severity.

"Yes Daddy, anything to make you stop," Seth uttered, gasping for breath between tickles.

His father slung him over his shoulder and made his way to the bathroom. Once there, he filled the faucet with warm water, soaked a washcloth in it and squeezed some liquid soap onto it.

He sat on the toilet seat and pulled Seth onto his lap, facing him.

"Now close your eyes, Monster, I don't want to get soap in them, OK?" he said.

Seth nodded and scrunched his eyes shut.

Sandy wiped his son's face and hands gently, and had just finished patting his face dry with a towel when a key turned in the front door.

"Please don't be Caleb, please don't be Caleb" he repeated to himself silently.

Seth scrambled off his lap and ran into the hall before Sandy could restrain him.

"Mommmmmmmeeeeeee!" Seth whooped in a thrilled tone upon seeing his mother in the doorway.

She'd just but her briefcase down thankfully, as Seth ran into her arms. She kissed him all over his face and cuddled him for a long while. She carried him into the lounge where Sandy now was. She deposited Seth on the sofa and kissed Sandy passionately on the mouth before sitting down herself.

Seth then scrambled to sit between his parents and tell his mother what had happened that day.

Kirsten smiled at his account, his choice of words and the way he flitted from different topics without warning. She was a little worried to hear he didn't seem to have played or really talked with or to anyone in particular in his class yet, but it was still early days, so it would probably take the kids a few days to find their feet in a new environment, but friendships would be forged in time. That was her theory anyway.


	6. First attempt to run away

_This is based on Seth's line somewhere in Season 3 where he says he planned his 1st escape on an Etch-a-Sketch. The version of Etch-a-Sketch in this chapter is one that comes with a special pen to draw on it with, rather than the sort that makes lines using buttons-I know they exist as my sister had one as a kid!_

_Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story so far, it's really encouraging to have positive comments and constructive criticism. I'm really pleased you all like it so much, I've been meaning to join here for ages and have always wanted to write about little Seth. Originally it was going to be a chapter of Seth's life then a chapter of Ryan's, but I found it too hard (and too depressing!) to write about little Ryan. I love writing Seth, it's much more fun! Next chapter will probably be about the creation of Chrismukkah, but I'm not happy with the rough draft I've got on paper at the moment, I need some help with it! I assume Kirsten and Sandy would have celebrated both even before the term was coined, but I just can't get the characters to behave and say what I want them to!_

Seth put his Etch-a-Sketch pen down and pondered on just how much he hated Newport. He had no friends at school, he hadn't had any in first grade and no-one seemed to have changed their minds yet. They were now in second grade and he still spent lunchtime and recess on his own. Some of the kids made fun of him liking comics and the way everything he owned had Spiderman on it. The boys had teased him for weeks when he'd brought Captain Oats in for show and tell, they'd claimed that horses were girls' toys, and the girls had protested, saying his horse wasn't pretty enough to play with their pink, purple or white ones with their glittery tails and manes.

Seth also hadn't been invited to Marissa's birthday party a few weeks ago and he'd cried when he'd found out. That had only made the kids in his class shun him further and so he'd spent that Saturday trying to ignore the excited screams and happy laughter that had drifted over to his yard from Marissa's house.

His parents had taken him to the pier for an ice-cream to cheer him up, after seeing him moping and withdrawn. He hadn't wanted to tell them that he'd been the only person in the class to not be invited, as he didn't want his parents to think he was such a loser, so he'd said he thought a few other kids hadn't been invited either.

He loved his Mommy and Daddy and he knew they loved him, but they were so much busier here than they had been in Berkeley. He just really wanted to go back there and was sure that when he did, and he'd got their old house back, his parents would be pleased and would come back to live with him there.

He looked down at the map he'd drawn, that showed where school, the store, the bus stop and his house were. He'd written the name of each place by it and had drawn a line showing the best route from his house to the bus stop, passing the store on the way so he could get supplies.

He knew he'd need sandwiches, a blanket and pillow, comics, apples and cookies ( he'd already smuggled one of each out of the kitchen earlier), some juice, his comic books and all $ 20 of his allowance, that he'd saved over a month. His parents had been surprised at his hoarding, as he normally begged to go to the mall the minute either of his parents gave him his $ 5 on Saturday morning.

He opened his Spiderman piggybank on his bed, to make sure he still had every cent of his precious fortune.

Content that it was all there, he replaced it carefully in the container and turned to his bookshelf which was stuffed full of comics and other books.

He looked at his collection, trying to decide which were his favourites, the ones that were essential to his survival and the ones he could cope without.

He'd take the Spiderman one his dad had owned when he was little, as he'd promised him he'd look after it and he decided on a Superman one too, as Clark Kent reminded him of his Daddy, because he was clever, kind and strong, just like the superhero was.

He got his Spiderman backpack out of the closet and placed the cookie, the apple and his comics inside. He rummaged in his trunk and found his baby blanket, which had 'Seth' stitched onto it by his mother. No Ezekiel though, as her sewing skills and patience had not stretched that far.

He folded it and placed it in the backpack too. He zipped the bag up and placed it under his bed and then put the Etch-a-Sketch next to it.

He curled up on his bed, exhausted by all the thinking and planning he'd done and fell asleep almost instantaneously.

Kirsten was working in her office on some last minute changes to some plans for a house that had been commissioned by a client of her father's.

Sandy came in, kissed her neck and began massaging her shoulders, something he'd do instinctively when she was stressed.

She turned and kissed him back lovingly.

"Where's Seth, sweetie?" she asked anxiously. He'd wandered off in the toy store last weekend, which had caused her to have the worst twenty minutes of her life. When Seth had been found, following a lady who looked a lot like her round the store, she'd hugged him to her like she was never going to let him go and then had proceeded to scold him and, regretfully, she'd administered a rare swat to his bottom. Consequently, he'd been rather wary of her over the week that had just gone, frightened when she was stressed, even though she'd explained to him that she was stressed because Grampa had given her a lot of work to do, rather than his behaviour that was the cause of it.

"He was upstairs playing last time I checked, baby... That was about 10 minutes ago. Do you want me to check on him? I should spend some more time with him really, we can play a game or something. Do you still want pizza for dinner? Shall I order it for 7 o'clock?" he responded, kissing her neck again.

"Thanks, Sandy, yes to all of the afore-mentioned... You're my hero, you know that? Saint Sandy has a nice ring to it!" she teased affectionately, kissing her husband on the mouth.

"Awww, thanks beautiful! You're amazing too! See you in a while, OK?" he declared as he left the room with a wave.

He climbed the stairs and paused outside Seth's room. He was worried that he couldn't hear Seth muttering to himself or whispering to Captain Oats, so he pushed the door open and his gaze fell on his sleeping son gratefully.

He knelt by the bed to watch Seth more closely and to be able to give him a kiss. He did so, but as he stood up, his foot came in contact with a toy under the bed. He got down on all fours to locate the offending object on which he stubbed his toe and spotted the Etch-a-Sketch and the backpack Seth used for school under the bed.

He pulled out the toy and a look of shock and fear crossed his face as he saw what the picture was of.

With his finger, he traced the path Seth had drawn earlier and looked from it to the backpack to his son, unable to process the fact that his son might want to leave him and Kirsten.

He grabbed the toy and rushed downstairs to show Kirsten what he'd found.

"Honey, Seth's asleep... But..." he garbled, his emotions running high. Kirsten turned to look at her husband, suddenly seeming smaller and very frightened.

"He's not... sick... is he, Sandy?" she finally declared, her eyes filling with tears and her arms going round Sandy for a much-needed hug.

He held her close before replying.

"No, not as far as I know, anyway. But I found this in his room, and he's packed his backpack, I think he was planning to act on his idea..." Sandy trailed off, knowing that the evidence would explain the situation better than his long-winded explanations.

Kirsten broke down in tears and Sandy held her closer than before, kissing her head as he squeezed her lovingly.

"We have to talk to him about this, sweetie... I didn't think he was that unhappy here, did you?" she questioned, desperate for answers to the thousands of questions that suddenly filled her mind.

"I'll talk to him, darling, not now though... You know how grumpy he gets if we wake him when he's napping... I'll talk to him when he's awake, I promise, OK?" Sandy ventured, trying to comfort his wife.

"Thank you, sweetheart, again, you're my hero" she said, much more quietly than the first time she'd called him that that day.

He kissed her again and led her to her chair and handed her a tissue.

She wiped her eyes and smiled, regaining her composure rapidly.

Sandy smoothed her blonde hair, squeezed her hand and left the room.

He headed towards Seth's, where he replaced the toy where it had been left and made his way to the lounge.

He sat in the lounge, reading the paper as he waited for Seth to emerge.

After a while, he heard the familiar tread, well, more like bounce, of Seth's feet on the floor above and was pleased to hear him approach the stairs.

Seth burst into the room with a jubilant "Hi Daddy!" and he then threw himself into his father's lap, clamouring for a kiss and cuddle that Sandy gladly gave him.

"Hey Setheleh, did you have a good nap, my darling?" Sandy asked, which was met by Seth's eyes becoming as round as marbles in surprise.

"How did you know I was asleep, Daddy? Do you have X-Ray vision like Clark Kent?" he questioned, snuggling further into Sandy's lap.

"What do you think, Setheleh?" Sandy replied. "Do you think I used X-Ray vision or did I come upstairs to check on you, huh?", he added, gently breaking the truth to Seth.

He held Seth close to him, his son's head resting on his chest, as he pondered for the millionth time that day the reasons why Seth would want to run away.

He knew Seth hadn't really made any proper friends in school, but he didn't seem to hate them either, and he was doing fine academically, which was good. Sure, he'd been upset at not being invited to Marissa's party, but hadn't complained that much and his happy-go-lucky vibe had been quickly restored with a cuddle and an ice-cream on the pier. Unless his son behaved fundamentally differently at school from the way he behaved at home, he simply couldn't understand how such a charming, affectionate, and downright lovable child could have the grand total of zero friends.

"You know you can tell Mommy and me absolutely anything, don't you, chicken?" he intoned lovingly, smoothing Seth's hair as he spoke.

"Yes Daddy, I do, thank you. I love you," Seth responded, cuddling his father warmly.

"And I love you too and so does Mommy. That's why we'd be really really sad and worried if you ran away, if you decided to leave." Sandy replied, looking Seth right in the eye as he spoke.

"Don't be sad, Daddy, I hate it when you and Mommy are sad, it makes me sad too" Seth said finally, after a moment's thought.

"And Daddy, would it cost more than, uh, 20 dollars to buy back our house in Berkeley?" he uttered, looking at his dad for the answer.

"Oh, it would cost way more than that Setheleh... Do you miss Berkeley a lot, my darling? I know you had friends there, you must miss them... Maybe we could go and visit Berkeley in the vacation, we could go and see Tom and Carl and meet the people who live in our house there, would you like that?" Sandy enquired of his son.

Seth's eyes lit up at the thought of returning there and thanked his dad for the suggestion.

"It's OK here too, though, Daddy," he added, not wanting to upset his dad too much.

"Our house in Berkeley was the best though, wasn't it?" he continued, remembering how much he'd liked it.

"Yes, it was a nice house, Setheleh... It's always going to be special to me, as it was the first house Mommy and I lived in together and you were a baby there, but we can't go back, my darling, not for the moment, anyway. Mommy has to help Grampa with his business, she really enjoys it and I've just started a new job too, so we really can't go back, I'm sorry." Sandy explained, doing his best to comfort his son.

"And promise me right now you'll never run away, that you'll come and talk to Mommy or me if somethimg's bothering you, OK?" he added, speaking lovingly but firmly as he looked Seth right in the eye.

Seth looked a little taken aback by the sterness in his father's voice, but he nodded.

"Yes Daddy, I promise I won't run away. Are you mad?" seth ventured nervously, not wanting to bring his father's wrath upon him.

"No, Seth, I'm not mad, just worried about you. Now why don't we have a snack, then we can play a game together or watch a movie, 'cause I haven't spent much time with you recently..." Sandy suggested.

"That sounds nice, Daddy." Seth replied. "Hi Mommy!" he declared as he spotted Kirsten in the doorway. She'd listened to most of their conversation and smiled at her son.

She asked if she could join in too, as she needed a break from her work and Seth was most adamant they'd been going to ask her anyway.

She plopped herself down onto the sofa, kissing Sandy then Seth and hugged the two male Cohens towards her, so Seth was in the middle.

Feeling safe between his parents, Seth decided that he wouldn't run away, at least not while he could still get hugs like that from his Mommy and Daddy.


	7. The Invention of Chrismukkah

_Ok, I've decided that Nana WASP (Kirsten's Mom) has died now... I just couldn't bring myself to write it, as I knew I'd get all teary. Seth and his parents will still be upset by it though... Anyway, I've decided I'm happy with my Chrismukkah chapter, so here it is!_

Seth hated having to go out to play for recess, as he still didn't have anyone to play with. He wished Newport had more rainy days, as on those, he and his classmates were allowed to stay inside and draw, talk quietly or read. Unfortunately, it was almost always sunny, which meant that the girls would go off and play with their jump ropes or sit and whisper in their corner. Either way, he overheard them saying they didn't like him, or they simply glared at him, daring him to come over so they could tell the teacher he was pestering them.

The boys were far worse though. They'd come up and ask him to play soccer with them and then would always knock him over and treat him as if he were the ball. Or, if they didn't ask him to play with them, he'd get elbowed in the stomach or pushed over as they came running past, claiming he'd been in the way. He hated how they called him "Cohen", the tone of it was so insulting, so different from the way his Daddy said it. The boys made it sound like an insult but his dad said it like it was something to be proud of.

He was doing very well in his studies, mostly A's and B's, but gym class was another story altogether.

They'd had gym that morning and had played baseball. Seth, as usual, had been the last one to be chosen to join the team, which was fair enough because a) he sucked and b) he didn't want to play, but still, it wasn't very nice of them. He never had a partner for pair exercises either, so he usually ended up either sitting it out or doing the exercise with his teacher.

Today they'd played baseball and, miraculously, he'd been able to hit the ball (he'd been practising with his dad in the yard, batting, catching and throwing-he didn't mind doing it then, his Daddy made it fun, but it was different here, he got nervous) and had run to second base before falling over. He was fairly sure someone had stuck out their foot at the wrong moment, but he was sure it was an accident. Like his dad, he tended to see the best in people and was quick to forgive and give second chances.

He'd been trying to get out of going to school for a while now, as he really felt like he didn't fit in there. He often pretended to be ill to get out of going, but his parents, especially his dad, were very quick to see through his made up ailments. His father often asked him jokily whether they should rush him straight to the Emergency Unit, just to be sure, or he'd offer him a bagel and juice, which once he accepted was proof he wasn't feeling bad enough to stay home.

His parents always knew exactly what to say or do when he was feeling sad or lonely, which he'd been feeling a lot more recently, since Nana WASP had died. He'd been having nightmares about his parents dying in the middle of the night and would wake up crying for them. Either one or both of them would rush upstairs, having thrown on their robe and slippers and would give him a kiss and a cuddle, get him a glass of water and either stay with him til he went back to sleep or let him come into their bed.

He'd given his mother lots of extra kisses and cuddles to help her feel better and had been sad that he couldn't kiss her better where she was hurting.

He was amazed at how much better he could feel after school just after a short trip home in the car talking to whoever had picked him up that day.

They'd been talking about Christmas in class today, and even though it was a few months off yet, he was very excited about it.

Finally the bell went to announce the end of the day.

Seth packed his stuff away in his Spiderman backpack from first grade that he still liked, but the boys made fun of. They also made fun of the way he still played 'let's pretend' games that were apparently for first graders and stated that reading comic books was silly, as were drawing and writing stories, only girls did that. To be a proper boy, you had to like sport, fighting and just generally be mean to everyone. Luke was by far the worst of the bullies: he'd told him today to hand over his cupcake (chocolate, his favourite) or he'd beat him up. Seth knew his dad didn't want him fighting, so he'd handed it over.

He ran outside and spotted his dad at the gate. He waved at him and his father waved back, smiling broadly at him.

Seth sprinted into his dad's arms and they shared a warm hug. Seth was glad it was Friday, as it meant he got to hang out with his Mommy and Daddy all weekend and he also didn't have to see the kids from school either.

They'd set off in the car before Seth started talking.

"Daddy, the kids in my class at school today were saying we should have a Christmas party... Why didn't anyone else think of a Hanukkah party? And how come lots of people don't know about Hanukkah?" Seth asked, thirsty for answers from the fount of knowledge that he deemed his father to be.

"Well, Setheleh, I don't think anyone else in your class is Jewish and so they probably won't have heard of Hanukkah then, my darling" Sandy explained.

"But Hanukkah's awesome, daddy, why haven't they?" he pressed on, not content with his father's answer and somewhat bemused that parents wouldn't tell their kids about a tradition that involved eight days of presents.

"I tried to explain about being Jewish Daddy, I told them about Moses and the Red Sea and how Moses was adopted by Pharoah, but no-one really understood! Moses is sooooo cool, isn't he Daddy?" Seth enquired, jabbering excitedly.

"And then someone said I can't be properly Jewish, as Mommy has to be too and you can't celebrate Hanukkah AND Christmas, that you have to _choose_ between one or the other, isn't that silly, Daddy?" he divulged, clearly upset at having been told he wasn't fully Jewish.

Sandy wasn't sure what to say for a moment, so he collected his thoughts and then spoke.

"Mommy and I decided that you should know about what both of us believe in because it's important to both of us. We want to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas because both are special to us, OK? You're fully Jewish and fully WASP, you always have been and always will be, don't ever forget that." Sandy stated lovingly but firmly.

Seth nodded and then went quiet, a rarity for him. A look of intense concentration crossed his face and he sucked his bottom lip in, like he always did when he was reflecting on a big issue or was upset about something.

Suddenly, a look of jubilant triumphance etched itself on his face. He beamed at his dad happily and proudly, bursting with excitement at his brilliant idea.

"What have you thought of, Setheleh? I'm dying to know" Sandy declared proudly.

"well, Daddy, I was thinking there must be other kids in the world who don't want to have to choose between Christmas and Hanukkah, so I thought we could mix the two words together... Chrismukkah! It's two holidays rolled into one, Daddy, so it's super special, and Jesus and Moses can work on it together! We can still have the eight days of little presents like you do with the Nana and eat take-out and watch movies and then we can have Christmas day straight after and have turkey and all that and have lots of presents to open... Don't you think I'm clever, Daddy?" he asked, looking to his father for approval.

Sandy managed to conceal his giggle and told Seth it was a fabulous idea, that he was his little genius and that he was very proud of him.

"Is Mommy home, Daddeleh? I want to tell her all about my brilliant idea!" he asked as they pulled into the drive.

"I think she's in her office, Setheleh. You go inside ahead of me, I have to get some groceries out of the car that I bought before I picked you up, OK?" he responded, giving Seth a hug before he ran into the house.

When Sandy entered, he heard Seth's excited jabbering as he recounted his new invention and Kirsten's surprised then proud tone in her voice.

This Christm... oops, Chrismukkah would certainly prove interesting, he decided.


	8. Conversations about Bullying

_Just a short chapter where Seth talks to Sandy about the bullying. Seth aged 6. Next chapter will be Seth's Birthday and then there'll be a chapter on Sandy & Kirsten's 10th Anniversary, woooh! Peppers in the chapter refer to the vegetable, which I think people in the US call capiscum? _

Sandy had collected Seth from school as usual and was looking forward to spending some quality time with his little boy. Kirsten was away on business again and wouldn't be back until the end of the week. They'd made the most of Kirsten's absence by having Nintendo game matches, ordering pizza most nights and just generally being crazy together. They'd played a game which had involved them pretending to be lions, giving them an excuse to roar very loudly and run round the lounge at top speed. Once Sandy had caught Seth, he'd tickled him, saying that was what daddy lions did to their cubs.

They'd played a long game of Super Mario on the Nintendo, as Seth wanted a rematch after Sandy somehow managed to beat him.

Then Seth had done his homework, they'd had a dinner of Meat Feast pizza, the one Kirsten didn't like much, as she said it was far too unhealthy, as it had no vegetables on it. To get around the problem, Sandy had asked for an extra topping of red pepper on it, explaining to Seth that pepper was a vegetable, so they weren't really disobeying Mommy, but it might be best to not tell her what sort of pizza they'd eaten.

Seth nodded in agreement and declared that it could be his and his daddy's secret.

To get out of having his bath, Seth had started showing Sandy the comic strip he'd drawn at recess that day.

It depicted a dark-haired hero with blue eyes whose thick eyebrows earned him the moniker of Sir Monobrow and his superpower was the ability to talk the villains to death. Sir Monobrow was committed to helping people in distress, who had no money, no friends or no nice Mommy and Daddy to make them feel better when they were sad. His arch-enemies were many, and took many forms. The scariest by far was the evil Dragon Lady whose evil glare of disapproval would make her victims burn up on the spot. There was also an evil businessman, who, to Sandy's pleasure, looked quite a lot like Caleb. This villain's power involved taking people's mommies away and making them work all day and all night, so they never got to see their children. The little boy in that particular strip looked a lot like Seth and the mother who was being dragged away to do work looked suspiciously like Kirsten, Sandy thought.

The last strip showed a little boy who was being teased by some people of his own age, only to be rescued by Sir Monobrow who gave him a cuddle and then told the other children off for being nasty.

"Wow, Setheleh, these are amazing! I never knew you were such an artist!" Sandy exclaimed, picking Seth up to give him a proud hug. He kissed the top of his little boy's head, hoping that the school yard scene Seth had drawn was not a depiction of his life. Still holding Seth and murmuring encouragement and praise in his ear, Sandy entered the kitchen and put the comic on the fridge door, holding it in place with a Spiderman magnet.

"Now it's... bath time!" Sandy declared, holding his son tightly so he couldn't squirm out of his grasp and avoid getting clean. Seth protested and tried to get away for a few moments, and then decided it was better to obey and get it over and done with.

Sandy began soaping Seth all over once he was in the tub. He stopped suddenly, noticing a bruise on Seth's right leg.

"What happened to you today, huh, Setheleh? You look like you've been in the wars, my darling," Sandy stated gently, pointing at the mark with the washcloth.

"It's OK, Daddy, it doesn't really hurt anymore... I was just standing in the playground and some boys came past, they were running really fast and they bashed into me, but it was an accident, Daddy" Seth said by way of explanation.

"Did they say they were sorry then?" Sandy questioned, upset that someone had hurt his son, be it accidently or not.

"No, but I'm sure they were, Daddy... You always say people deserve second chances and that I should forgive people when they hurt me, so I did." Seth commented, repeating what he'd overheard his father saying on the phone about his clients and what his parents had told him.

" And the teacher came to see me anyway, to make sure I wasn't hurt, and she'd know whether they did it on purpose or by accident, wouldn't she?" Seth continued, using his six-year old logic skills that baffled everyone over that age.

" Seth, will you tell me next time you get hurt, please?" Sandy asked of his son. "I got worried when I saw you had a bruise and I didn't know how it happened, so you have to tell Mommy or me about things like that, OK?" Sandy finished, speaking in a tone that was firmer and stirner than the one he usually used with his son. Seth nodded and promised he would.

"Now we've got to wash your hair!" Sandy uttered, making Seth squeal as he poured a jug of water over his head and scruffed his son's dark curly hair.

Once Seth was clean and dry and had run around his room in his pyjamas, wearing the towel he'd been dried in like a cape round his shoulders and had saved Captain Oats from falling from the bed to his death, he went to brush his teeth and then chose a story for Sandy to read to him.

The two dark-haired figures, one large, one small, curled up together on Seth's bed. Once the story was over, he begged his father for a real story about when his Daddy was a little boy and had done something silly. Sandy told him about how he'd been out with his father to a baseball match when he was about Seth's age. His father had bought him a hot dog, cotton candy and a Sprite, and they'd jumped about excitedly when their team had scored a run. He told Seth how he'd fallen asleep on the subway and his dad had had to carry him home and that The Nana had been mad that Sandy's dad hadn't given him any proper food that day, just junk.

Sandy sighed slightly at the memory, as it was one of the few he had of his dad before he'd left him, his mother and his younger brother and sister. He hadn't mentioned this to Seth yet, though Seth had been told that Grampa Cohen didn't live with The Nana anymore.

Sandy tucked his little boy in, proud that he was his son's hero. Seth hadn't said so, of course, at least not in so many words, but his admiration was evident in the way he looked at him, asked him questions, utterly convinced that he held the answers and then there was that comic, undeniable proof that his son thought his Daddy was a great guy. He kissed Seth and Captain Oats with incredible tenderness, smoothed Seth's hair and said goodnight, told the bedbugs not to bite, wished him sweet dreams and promised he'd see him in the morning.

Later that night, Seth woke up from a nightmare, crying his eyes out after having thrashed around in his terrifying dream.

Sandy held Seth close, pulling him into his lap for a cuddle.

"What's the matter, Setheleh? What were you dreaming about?" he intoned, smoothing Seth's hair and rubbing his tummy as he did so.

"It was scary, Daddy... You and Mommy were gone and I was all by myself in the yard, at recess at school and then lots of big kids came over to me and started making fun of me, of how I still like Spiderman and stuff... And you and Mommy couldn't hear me, even though I was shouting really loudly, I was frightened, Daddy," Seth sobbed, clinging to his father for comfort.

Sandy squeezed Seth lovingly, then grabbed a tissue from his povcket to wipe Seth's eyes and then told him to blow his nose. His hand went from rubbing his little boy's tummy to his back, soothing him with his touch.

"Have the big kids at school been making fun of you for real, Setheleh?" Sandy asked his son, letting him rest his head on his chest.

"No, Daddy, but some of the boys in my class have though... They're mean, they never want to play any of my games," he uttered, between hiccups that had replaced the sobs.

"Who do you play with at recess then, huh?" Sandy enquired, needing to know that his little boy had some sort of group of playmates he hung around with.

"Uh, sometimes I play on my own, but I play with the 1st graders from time to time, they're nice and they like playing pretend and superheroes with me, Daddy, just like you..." he trailed off, hoping he didn't sound disloyal to his best playmate, who was of course his father.

"You'll always play with me, won't you Daddy?" he added, tugging not only at the sleeve of his Daddy's robe, but at his heartstrings too.

"Yes, Setheleh, I'll play with you for as long as you want me to... But remember you need friends at school too, OK?" he declared, cuddling Seth closer still.

"Yes Daddy, I know," Seth replied, putting his arms round his father's neck and giving him a kiss.

Sandy returned the gesture and offered to stay with Seth until he fell asleep. Seth nodded happily, let his dad tuck him in again and held Captain Oats to his chest for extra comfort.

Sandy hoped Seth would make friends at school soon and that Seth would tell him if the situation got any worse. He hoped that the kids in his class came to their senses soon and welcomed his delightful little boy with open arms soon, but he dreaded that it might never happen, as the kids here were so much snobbier and spoilt than the ones Seth had left behind in Berkeley. With Tom and Carl, his nursery school playmates, they and Seth had had to use their imaginations to pretend they were in a castle, a pirate ship or on a desert island, whereas here, the kids seemed to have plastic creations depicting their chosen scene , which was killing off their creativity and costing their parents stupid amounts of money, he surmised. Seth was still happy using a stick as a pistol, a sword or as a strange device left by the enemy, and was content to use the contents of his dressing up box to pretend he was a superhero or a pirate, which was full of costumes Kirsten had designed using old material from decorating jobs. He'd never asked for a pony (though had gone through a phase of wanting a puppy, but was over that now), still enjoyed going to the beach for an ice-cream or a shell search and was certainly not spoilt, at least not compared to some of the brats in his class. He was so proud of his little boy on that front, but was glad he could give him what he wanted, without it being too great a financial strain. He was glad he could provide for his son, thus making up for everything his dad had failed to give him when he was growing up. Again, he vowed to never become like his father as he watched his angelic little boy sleep soundly.


	9. Seth's 7th Birthday

**Seth's Birthday**

"Hey Setheleh!" Sandy uttered as he entered the kitchen, noticing his son sitting at the table with paper, pens, scissors and glitter spread out over the table in front of him.

"Watcha doing there?" Sandy questioned, looking over at his son.

"Hi Daddy! I'm doing my invitations for my Birthday party, so no peeking OK? I want them to be a surprise!" Seth jabbered, obviously excited at the idea of having a party and being able to create his own invitations.

"OK, I won't peek, Seth. I bet they'll look great though, you're working very hard on them!" Sandy replied, encouraging his son in his creative pursuit.

"Have you decided what you want for your Birthday yet, my darling?" Sandy asked his son as he rummaged in the cupboards for a mug.

"Yes Daddy, I'd like a new Super Nintendo game, the Spiderman one I showed you, do you remember? And the Superman comic I saw in the comic book store last week, a skateboard and, uh, some paints too... Is that too much, Daddy?" Seth questioned, not wanting to sound too greedy.

Sandy smiled at his son's concerned tone, proud that his little boy was so aware of the fact he couldn't always have what he wanted.

He'd been devastated to find out that some people lived on the streets or in houses that weren't nearly as nice as his, and that they didn't have lots of toys or a nice Mommy and Daddy who played with them and tucked them in at night, like he did.

"Daddy, wouldn't it be cool if I had a friend called Eena? Then I could say 'Hi Eena, are you at the zoo today?' and it would be funny, wouldn't it!" Seth declared, looking to his Dad for approval of the joke, that it and him were indeed funny.

Sandy managed not to burst out laughing at his son's silliness. He swallowed his gulp of coffee successfully and turned to Seth with a grin.

"Yeah, that would be funny... What about if you had a friend called Ellie whose surname was Funt, that would be funny too, wouldn't it?" he offered. Seth giggled at his father's situation and they began making up more people's names that sounded like animals, like Allie Gater, G. Rarf and others.

Shortly before lunchtime, Seth's invitations were finished. He cleaned up his mess, as he knew they'd be making lunch soon, and the kitchen needed to be tidy for that, and then he called out to his parents. Sandy emerged from the lounge and Kirsten came out of her office.

Sandy commented on how there were only two invitations and wondered aloud if Seth only wanted to invite two special friends and have a sleepover instead of a regular party.

Seth shook his head and paused for a moment before replying to his father's question.

"Well, Daddy, I want to invite my two best friends in the whole wide world to my party...You and Mommy!" Seth explained excitedly, handing his parents an invitation each. The two adults glanced at eachother, exchanging looks that were both full of concern and pride.

Kirsten and Sandy opened the envelopes the invitations were in and were very impressed with their son's handiwork.

Seth had made two beautiful invitations out of red card and had decorated them with pictures of balloons, stars, cake and presents in gold pen, as a border. In the centre, he'd written "Please come to Seth Ezekiel Cohen's 7th Birthday party on the 7th of October for pizza, cake and a movie."

Kirsten knelt down to be able to make eye contact with Seth. She put her arms round his middle and he put his arms round her neck.

"Sweetie, thank you for the invitation, it's beautiful! Are you sure you just want it to be you and me and Daddy for your Birthday? I don't mind if you want to invite everyone in your class, you know." she declared, still looking her little boy in the eye.

"It's OK, Mommy, I _want _it to just be you and me and Daddy, you guys are my best friends after all!" he replied in a tone that matched his mother's when there was no room for argument.

"OK, sweetheart, if you're _sure_ that's what you want... I promise I won't be mad if you change your mind though," she announced, holding Seth close as she did.

Seth nodded and once again declared he was sure of what he wanted, before snuggling his face into her shoulder.

She picked him up and spun him round in her arms before handing him to her husband.

"Thank you for the lovely invitation, Setheleh! Do we have to dress up or wear fancy clothes to your party?" he questioned, as his son gave him an impulsive kiss on the cheek.

"No, there's no dress code for my party, Daddy, but you can if you want to" he explained.

Kirsten suggested they put the invitations up on the fridge door so anyone who visited could see what a great artist Seth was. He nodded enthusiastically and Sandy placed him on the counter as Kirsten busied herself with magnets to put up Seth's handiwork.

"OK, Setheleh, we have to start lunch now. Do you want to butter the bread for the sandwiches like you usually do?" sandy asked his son, drawing up a chair for his little boy so they could stand side by side at the counter. Seth's "helping" really just created more mess than necessary, but he enjoyed helping and hanging out with his dad, so it was worth it really.

"Now, where should Mommy be when food is being prepared?" Sandy added teasingly, winking at his wife as he did so.

"As far away as possible!" Seth replied, recognising the jokiness in his father's tone. They high-fived eachother and then made shooing motions at Kirsten who pretended to be offended but she blew them both a kiss as she left the room.

For Seth's Birthday, they ended up going to the zoo, having a pizza and ice-cream in a small, child-friendly restaurant on the pier and then going home for cake consumption, present opening and a movie of Seth's choice, which Kirsten fell asleep during. Seth was thrilled with the gifts he'd received, especially the fairground Monopoly the Nana had sent him, and so they all played that after they'd watched the movie.


	10. 10th Wedding Anniversary

10th Wedding Anniversary, Seth aged 7. In the forums, I've worked out how old Sandy and Kirsten were when they met, how old they were when they had Seth and how long they had been married before he was born. I worked out that they were together for 3 years before they had hm, so he'd be 7 when they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. And Princess Sparkle, I'll try to have more Kirsten-Seth, but it's hard, he's getting older, and as I said, I always find it easier to write him & Sandy, I get to go nuts with silly comments and hopefully sarcasm soon, wahey! I try and portray Kirsten as a nice, fun mum, but one who is very busy... Sandy works from home a lot, but maybe he'll have to go to court for a few days, I'm sure that could be arranged! Oooh, I have an idea for my next chapter now, woohoo!

"Wow, 10 years, huh? They've flown by with you, honey!" Sandy declared, referring to his and Kirsten's anniversary which fell on that day.

The two of them were entwined in bed together, enjoying some precious time together before the demands of work and Seth took over.

"Happy... Anniversary... sweetheart" Kirsten replied, pausing to kiss her gorgeous husband between each word. He smiled at her sexily, then kissed her nose, neck and then her mouth. Their passionate embrace lasted a few minutes and then drifted into a tender hug. They looked at eachother lovingly for a lingering moment and then proceeded to present the other with a gift and card from their respective bedside table drawers.

Sandy was thrilled with his gift, which comprised of a boxset of musicals on DVD, a surfboard upkeep set and a mug declaring him to be the world's greatest husband. They kissed and Kirsten finished opening her gift. She was thrilled to find a beautiful jewellery box that contained a set of silver earrings and necklace, both sparkling with a discreet sprinkling of diamonds. There was also a box of luxury chocolates for her and a mug declaring her to be the loveliest and best wife in the world.

Neither of them had been able to find a card they liked in any of the shops they'd been in, so they had made their own.

Sandy, being less artistically gifted than Kirsten, had found scraps of all shades of red card and had stuck them on a piece of folded black card in the shape of a heart. In the centre of the card, he'd stuck a scanned picture of them kissing. He'd written "Happy 10th Anniversary..." on the front of the card, and inside, the message continued, "to my wonderful wife".

Kirsten's offering was on plain white card, and sh'd sketched a picture of them kissing, based on their wedding photograph. She'd kept it monochrome, simply using red ink. She'd also created a border round the picture, which was of tiny 10s, the 0 of each one shaped like a heart. They kissed again after admiring eachother's handiwork and reading the messages they'd written to eachother.

A knock on the door made them pull away, and Seth scampered in, grinning madly once they'd said he could come in. He held his hands behind his back as he rushed over to their big bed and then presented them with an envelope that was for both of them and a present each.

They opened the envelope first, revealing a card that Seth had drawn himself. It was of two cartoon characters who seemed to be holding hands in a park.

One of the characters was female, clad in a beautiful red dress and had blonde hair cascading down her back, piercing blue eyes and lots of silver jewellery, represented by silver pen. The resemblance to Kirsten was uncanny, he seemed to have captured her quiet intensity and love for her husband and son in an amazing way. The character she was holding hands with was male, taller and darker and seemed to have one eyebrow rather than two. His eyes were blue too, but a shade that was different to the woman's, yet equally piercing and intense. He was dressed in a navy suit and wore a pale blue shirt and tie and was obviously supposed to be Sandy. Both people in the picture were smiling happily, and tied to a tree in the background were some heart shaped balloons bearing the number 10.

Seth had written Happy 10th Anniversary on the front of the card, and inside, he'd proceeded to tell his parents just how glad he was that they were his Mommy and Daddy, as they were the best in the world and he loved them very very much.

Both parents kissed him and said thank you before hoisting their son between them in their king-sized bed. They then began opening the gifts Seth had chosen for them.

The presents turned out to be mugs claiming that they were respectively the best Mommy and Daddy in the world. The three of them cuddled up together and then both parents began tickling Seth. They stayed in bed together, all three of them talking and hugging until it was time to get up and go to school or work.


	11. Seth & Kirsten's Quality Time

_**Hi guys, have finally updated after a few chaotic months of best friend visiting, thyroid playing up and needing to go back on medication, only remaining grandparent (my grandmother, ironically enough, after one of my more recent chapters) passing away and major problems sorting out my job seekers' allowance and having to start from scratch. Lots of ideas buzzing around for this and my other/new stories but due to grief and stress, was not able to formulate them into words.**_

_**People have requested more Kirsten-Seth time, so I've sent Sandy away on business for once. Hope you enjoy this instalment and please comment!**_

"Ok, bye Setheleh, look after Mommy for me. I'll see you Tuesday night, I should be home before your bedtime. Be good, have fun and remember what you promised." Sandy declared, giving his seven-year-old son a kiss on the cheek and a big hug before departing for Berkeley, where he had to spend four days representing a client in court. Seth squeezed him extra hard and clung to him like a limpet. He'd been devastated to hear his dad had to be away during the Easter vacation, and Sandy had not been best pleased at the sudden rescheduling of the date of the court case either, but it unfortunately had to be done, a teenager's future was on the line here.

"Yes Daddy, I remember! I musn't let Mommy try to cook, we've got to have take out every night! Do you _have_ to go, Daddeleh?" Seth replied, his grip on his father's neck tightening.

"Yes, Setheleh, I have to, but I'll be back soon, I promise. You'll have so much fun with Mommy, you'll see" he explained as he finally managed to extricate himself from his small son's grip, deposited him on the floor and turned to kiss his wife. She put her arms round his middle and they held eachother in a tender embrace, then kissed as passionately as they dared in front of their son, who complained of tummy aches whenever they got too steamy in his presence.

Sandy picked up his bag and made his way out to the car. Seth and Kirsten followed him out and stood on the porch to wave him off. He put his case in the trunk, locked it and then got into the driver's seat of the BMW. He turned the key in the ignition, blew Kirsten a kiss and waved at his son as he pulled out of the drive. Both his wife and son waved back at him, and as he reached the gate, he glanced back and saw Seth's face crumple, his bottom lip sucked in as it usually was when he was upset or worried and noticed Kirsten crouch down by him and then hug him. She'd be reassuring him with the promise of lots of exciting adventures to the beach, the movies and a trip to the comic book store and the ice cream parlour in particular, he surmised.

It would be good for them to hang out together, Sandy mused, as it wasn't something they often did. Sure, they'd hang out together as a family, but Kirsten was often busy with work or away on business, so Seth's usual choice of playmate and confidante was him. As flattering as it was to be your son's hero, it could be exhausting sometimes. It also made him seem like the 'good cop' parent, the one who was fun, entertaining and cool, which left Kirsten the unpopular role of nagger, teller-off and doing all the generally more unpleasant parts of parenting. Kirsten would never voice this, he knew, but he guessed that sometimes she felt excluded from their random ramblings, their special sense of humour that only they seemed to share and their teasing her, albeit affectionately, probably didn't help matters much. Lots of people often failed to see that Seth had inherited both physical and behavioral traits from his mother, they usually said he looked like they'd imagine Sandy would have at that age, which was of course highly flattering again, but not exactly helpful. Some people even had the gall to ask if Kirsten was related to either of them! Sandy knew his son adored his mother, but at heart he was still very much a daddy's boy. Hopefully these few days would help redress the balance, that Seth would see his mother as fun-loving, entertaining and just plain wonderful.

"Wow, Mommy, that was an awesome movie, but the crocodiles who chased after the ballet dancing hippos were scary, weren't they? And Mickey isn't a very good magician, is he? It was cool to get the brooms to do his work though, can I get a magic broom to do my chores for me please? I liked the horses with wings who played in the water, the little black one reminded me of me, especially when he splashed the daddy horse with water, it was just like when I poured that bucket of water over Daddy when we were at the beach, and he pretended to be mad and ran after me and tickled me and threw me in the water and I got all dirty with sand and seaweed. It was ucky! Is Daddy coming home soon?" Seth gabbled, clutching his mother's hand tightly as they made their way out of the movie theatre where they'd just watched Fantasia.

"It was a fun movie, wasn't it sweetie, I really enjoyed it. Daddy should be home tonight in time for your bedtime, he said he might be able to get an earlier flight but I'll tell him to come in and give you your goodnight kiss if he is late, OK?" she replied, knowing Seth would be thrilled to see his dad before he went to sleep. She'd really enjoyed these few days with her little boy, her baby who was growing up so fast, it was lovely to spend some one-on-one time with him, something she resolved to have more of in the future. She also thought he was quieter, more controlled and focused with her, whereas he was louder, more excitable and impulsive when he was with Sandy. It was as if he had a chameleon-like personality that took on the best qualities of whichever parent he was with.

"Yay! Daddy's coming home tonight, home tonight, home tonight, yippahdeedoodah, yippahdeeday! Hip hip hurrah!" Seth chanted ecstatically, completely untunefully and unembarrassed. He even did a quick victory dance, which amused a great number of passers-by and caused Kirsten to have second thoughts about her theory of her son adapting his character depending on whether he was with her or Sandy. There was definitely more of Sandy's personality in her son than she thought.

She and Seth had filled their Sandy-free days with lots of fun activities: they'd been to the zoo where they'd spent ages at the monkey cage, making faces at the creatures that imitated their silly expressions, Seth had marvelled at the clumsiness of the penguins as they waddled on the ice but became so graceful as they flew underwater, they'd told their silliest jokes to the hyenas who laughed at them all and they'd thought up of their own strange animals and what they'd call them, like if someone crossed a monkey and a gorilla, would it be called a gonkey or a morilla?; they'd spent a day on the beach making sandcastles of various shapes and sizes, they'd paddled and swum, eaten fries, ice creams aplenty and played ball to help Seth improve his co-ordination; the previous day had been wet so they'd stayed in, written a story together that they'd illustrated and Seth had decided to draw a welcome home picture for his dad, depicting all the tings he liked best, like surfing, bagels schmeared in lots of cream cheese, barbecuing and hanging out with him and Mommy. He'd been lovely towards her, he'd showered her with cuddles and kisses, had told her some of his big secrets and asked her to help him explore a wardrobe in the house, as if he discovered a new land in the back of one of them, he'd need his Mommy to look after him, it would be too scary to go alone. Today they'd been to the movies, which Kirsten had hoped would exhaust Seth as he usually ran around the house screaming excitedly whenever he was told that's where they were headed. However, the only person who was tired was her. She'd underestimated Seth's bounciness and enthusiasm by a lot and marvelled at how Sandy coped with him when she was away on business, which was often for a whole week. She was absolutely tired out, but in the best possible way, just like she'd been when Seth was born and she'd survived on odd hours of sleep snatched between her turn at feeding him or changing his diaper.

"Mommy, how much longer 'til Daddy comes home? You _promised _he'd be home by bedtime and we've just had dinner so it must be soon... But I really want to show Daddy my picture that I drew for him and I want to tell him about all the fun stuff we did together, Mommy..." Seth whined, obviously getting impatient with the delays that went with travelling by anything other than teleporting.

"I didn't promise anything, sweetie. Daddy should be home in an hour or so, but sometimes planes are late and there's nothing you or me or Daddy or anyone can do about that, but he'll phone if he's going to be delayed, I'm sure, and you can speak to him then, OK? Now let's get you in the bath, 'cause Daddy won't want to give you a kiss if you're all dirty, will he?" Kirsten explained as she put the dishes and cutlery they'd used over ther dinner of Chinese take out into the dishwasher.

"But I want Da-ddy to give me my bath" Seth complained, drawing out the 'Daddy' to ten times its original length, to emphasize its importance.

"Seth.Tub.Now" Kirsten ordered in a tone that left no room for arguments. A sullen and subdued Seth hopped down from his chair and followed her upstairs, glowering at her when she had her back to him. His mood lifted when she let him pour in some special bubblebath that turned the water bright green and created lots of bubbles. She also let him play for longer than usual before she started washing him which also helped improve his humour. He was still quieter than usual, but she put that down to Daddy withdrawal symptoms being at their highest and was sure he'd be as happy as Larry once he was reunited with his father.

Kirsten finished washing the shampoo out of Seth's hair and then realised she didn't have a big enough towel to wrap him in, so she went down the corridor to the airing cupboard to get his favourite Spiderman towel. While she was occupied, she heard a key turn in the lock and Sandy's familiar voice call out "Hi! I'm ho-ome!"

Before she could stop him, Seth streaked down the hall and sprinted downstairs as fast as his legs would carry him. She arrived at the top of the stairs, carrying the towel, just in time to see her butt naked and soaking wet son scramble into his father's arms, drenching his shirt and jacket as he threw his arms round his neck and told him he'd missed him "millions and millions". Seemingly oblivious to his son's state of undress and nudity, Sandy held his son close and listened attentively to his account of his and Kirsten's adventures without him.

Kirsten signalled to him silently with a look and began creeping down the stairs towards the pair, towel unfolded and ready to wrap Seth in. He returned the look, agreeing with the plan wordlessly. He continued to heed his son's excited ramblings and waited for the right moment to release him. Kirsten nodded and he kissed the top of Seth's head tenderly before placing him on the ground. A second later, he was 'attacked' by a growling Kirsten who expertly wrapped him in the big fluffy towel and began rubbing him dry.

She then gave Sandy a quick kiss, avoiding getting too close to his chest due to its sodden state.

Seth watched them, having positioned himself on the bottom step of the staircase.

Sandy came over to him a moment later.

"Hey, Setheleh, why don't you show me and Mommy what a big boy you are by finishing drying yourself off, getting into your PJs, brushing your teeth and then you can choose two stories for me to read to you, OK?" Sandy enquired of his son, knowing that Seth performing these tasks without parental supervision involved them taking three times longer than they usually would, due to Seth's tendancy to start long, rambling conversations with everything in sight, especially Captain Oats and getting distracted by great ideas for stories or 'let's pretend' games, thus buying him at least half an hour of quality time with Kirsten that would also allow him to change into some more comfortable clothes, fix himself a drink and a snack and just relax a bit after his intense few days of travelling and work.

Forty minutes later, that had involved putting on his favourite sweater (his Berkeley one) and an old, worn in pair of jeans, consuming a bagel that had been schmeared to perfection, even if he did say so himself, and sipping a coffee whilst talking and kissing his beautiful wife, Sandy was summoned to his son's room.

As soon as Sandy had positioned himself on his son's bed, Seth crawled into his lap, relishing the safety and comfort he found there and began waving his choice of reading material in his face.

Sandy kissed the top of Seth's head and waited while he squirmed around to get comfortable which took a few seconds. Once his son was settled, he peered over his shoulder, opened the book and began reading about Winnie the witch who lived in a house where everything was black, so she kept tripping over her black cat. Seth knew all the words by heart and recited them along with his father. Kirsten poked her head round the door just as Winnie had made her cat multi-coloured which caused him to be teased by the birds and Sandy and Seth motioned for her to join them. Sandy moved a little further over in the bed to make room for Kirsten, who curled up next to Sandy and rested her head on his shoulder. Once Sandy had finished the story, with Winnie making her cat black again and making her house multi-coloured instead, Seth scrambled over to sit half on Sandy's lap and half on Kirsten's. Kirsten picked up the second story with a flourish. She announced that she was going to read to her two boys and they nodded in agreement vigorously. She began reading about a little girl who adopted a crocodile to stop him being made into a handbag and shoes and the adventures they got in. By the time she'd finished, Seth was almost asleep, though he insisted he wasn't tired at all and that he still had lots to tell Sandy about.

He let out an enormous yawn following his protest, thus nullifying it.

"Mommy... Picture... Show Daddy" he muttered as slumber descended and his head found its way onto his father's lap. Sandy began rubbing his son's back and stroking his hair, which were his usual techniques to soothe Seth and get him to sleep, ones he'd used from when his son was born.

"Ok, sweetheart, I'll go get it," she replied lovingly. She slipped out of the room, leaving Sandy to hold the sleeping child and returned moments later, holding a large sheet of paper.

Sandy had managed to get Seth into bed, under the covers and was tucking him in as gently as he could when his wife returned.

"He's out like a light, honey, you must have worn him out! He always chatters on when you're not here, it takes me ages to get him off..." Sandy whispered as he admired the picture his son had drawn him.

Kirsten grinned at her husband and he smiled back, visibly thrilled at his son's artistic talent and the fact he'd missed him so much.

He finished tucking his son in and then kissed him gently, quietly telling the bedbugs not to bite and wishing his son sweet dreams.

Kirsten followed suit and then made her way to the door. She paused when she saw Sandy stay where he was, perched at the end of the bed. She motioned for him to make his way out of the room, but he shook his head and motioned for her to join him. She considered this for a moment and then tiptoed back across the room. Sandy pulled her into his lap and they sat and proudly watched their beautiful little boy sleep.


End file.
